


Vampire Dragon Coffee Shop Spies

by TurtleTotem



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [6]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Dragons, M/M, Spies & Secret Agents, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 06:57:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9589790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TurtleTotem/pseuds/TurtleTotem
Summary: Exactly what it says on the tin. Because Pangea didn't seem to think it could be done. Or maybe just thought itshouldn't... (On Tumblrhere.)





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pangea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pangea/gifts).



The days were long gone when a dragon could feed properly. Erik had never in his life tasted meat as it ought to be be, fresh-hunted and hot – and never would, so long as he kept to the cities, where there were no beasts large enough to be any sporting hunt to a dragon.

There are always humans, of course. Erik had never – yet – stooped to hunting manflesh. But when the time came that he changed his mind, he already knew who his targets would be.

Until then, he would satisfy himself the same way he always had, the same way his parents had and all other dragons who hid themselves in cities – by adding fresh, steaming blood to what he drank, just barely enough to convince some part of his draconic nature that he was feeding from a successful hunt. Just enough to keep control.

Coffee was best, hot and dark enough to hide the blood from observers. And so every dragon in a given area was deeply familiar with the local coffee shops, and in many cases ran them.

Erik’s personal favorite was First Class Coffee, just down the street from his apartment, run by a pair of dragon siblings Erik had come to know rather well. The sister, Raven, he thought would make an excellent addition to the Brotherhood of Dragons, but all his attempts to recruit her had so far been scuttled by her brother.

“You’re content to let the humans reign over us,” Erik had snarled at him only the day before. “You know they won’t be content until they’ve stamped out every trace of dragon-fire in their cities, and the countryside will be next. One day they’ll put an iron collar around your neck and then what will you-–”

“You think I like seeing our people like this?” Sparks glittered deep within Charles’s deceptively innocent blue eyes. “But your methods, Erik, the Brotherhood’s methods, they will only lead to more bloodshed and hatred, they will only cause more humans to turn against us-–”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Lehnsherr,” interrupted Charles’s preposterously _human_ barista, Moira, “did you say you wanted bovine or porcine today?”

“Neither,” Erik snapped. “I want to _hunt_ like a dragon instead of adding blood to my milk like a new-hatched babe!”

“Then stop having temper tantrums like one,” Charles had said, and that sent Erik storming out of the shop, angry enough to have sparks on his breath for almost an hour.

Now, after a day to consider his words, he hesitated outside the door to First Class Coffee. He didn’t regret anything he’d said, but he hated fighting with Charles. Charles was brilliant and strong, a natural leader and teacher – the movement needed him, even more than Raven, or so the Brotherhood’s leadership had made clear to Erik. He couldn’t afford to alienate him. And besides… they were friends, in their own peculiar fashion.

The shop wasn’t technically open yet, Erik realized when he stepped inside. His powers had made short work of the lock without even thinking about it, and now he stood in a dark shop with chairs still upended on the tables. Well, maybe this was better. Charles was probably somewhere in the back, and they could talk more privately.

Erik made his way toward Charles’s office behind the counter, slowing as he heard voices. Charles and Raven? No, just Charles; he must be on the phone.

“Not yet,” Charles was saying into the receiver when Erik reached the office doorway. “He _does_ like me, but getting him to trust me is going to be harder. I need more time. … Of course he’s dangerous. … That’s what I’m trying to find out. … Telepathy’s not admissible in court.”

What was this about? What could Charles be picking up from someone’s mind that he would need to worry about taking to court?

But Erik already knew that, really, didn’t he.

Everything was confirmed in the following sentence.

“You do that, and you can tell the director good luck finding another dragon who’s willing to do his dirty work for him!” Charles slammed down the phone and stood glaring at it for a moment. Erik could tell the moment, mid-breath, when he realized Erik was there.

“How long have you been standing there, my friend?” he said, sounding tired. He didn’t turn around.

“Long enough,” Erik said, letting his hands ripple until skin became scales, and nails became talons capable of cutting through steel. “You’re working for the CIA. You’re working for _them_ , Charles?” He shouldn’t be wasting time talking, should already be attacking before Charles could beat him to it, but somehow he couldn’t, not until he heard it from Charles’s own mouth. Charles, a traitor.

“Sit down, Erik,” Charles said, turning around at last. His eyes were awash with flame, the blue scorched away; with a chill of panic Erik felt his body fold into the nearest seat, talons melting away, without permission from him. “We need to talk.”


End file.
